Our campaign for Wayne State University

This is a pivotal moment for us, one that I believe is as important as any in our history.

President M. Roy Wilson

President's Message

We all have moments in our lives that help forge the path we take and, at times, even shape the person we become. Pivotal Moments: Our Campaign for Wayne State University celebrates those moments.

With nearly 150 years of academic opportunity, research excellence and community partnerships, Wayne State University has created countless moments, the effects of which have had an impact that begins in Detroit and stretches around the globe.

Now it's time for a new moment, a collective moment.

I have outlined a clear vision for our future—to become a preeminent public urban research university. This vision is aspirational but achievable. Campaigns enable a university to reach beyond itself and make its vision real, and that is what the priorities of Pivotal Moments will do.

As it should be, students are the most important priority of our campaign. We must constantly look at everything we do and ask, "How does this help our students?" In addition to education, scholarships and student programs, it is our job to provide a campus that is diverse, inclusive and encouraging so students reach their graduation day on time.

Wayne State also must continue to be a place of groundbreaking discovery and move new knowledge from the laboratory to application to improve quality of life, create jobs and stimulate economic growth.

We must attract the best faculty and students and provide spaces and places where they can move their ideas from inspiration to action. This includes renewed laboratories, theatres, classrooms and gathering places that in so many ways define the university experience.

And as an urban university, we also must respond to the needs of our community and confront issues—such as the environment, transportation and disparities in health care—that disproportionately impact urban populations.

We do these things already but we can do more, and we must do more. This is a pivotal moment for us, one that I believe is as important as any in our history.

Wayne State has never been a more vibrant, a more engaged or a more influential university than it is today. We're part of a city that is on the verge of revitalization, and we must continue to be a leader in this effort. And because of where we are, who we are and what we do, Wayne State has an unprecedented opportunity to emerge as a national leader in public higher education in the years and decades ahead.

I hope that you feel proud of the success of our university and emboldened by our vision. Most of all, I hope you will recognize the pivotal moments Wayne State has created in your life and support our campaign to create those moments for future students and faculty. The opportunities have never been greater.